Welcome back to the Spotlight BACC! No, your eyes do not deceive you: this update only requires one post instead of the now-typical two. I was sick while I played through them, so I took a lot fewer pictures than usual. However, don’t get it twisted: there might be fewer pictures, but there was arguably twice as much action as normal.
I totally forgot to get a picture of their family portrait, so instead, we’re gonna have to pull their profile pictures for the household rundown: it’s original settlers Jude and Naomi, their children Avery, Marcella, and Ollie, and Naomi’s daughter Brielle. (Not pictured: their two cats, Shadow and Flash.)
Their guides: The Household Guide and The Extended Family Guide.
As always, I started out this household with Jude curing one of the cats of an illness. I’ve never played through a vet clinic, so I’m really hoping that someone in this save will get the animal lover aspiration and I’ll be able to do it at some point.
Avery reminds me more of Jude, but so far Ollie reminds me more of Naomi. They’re both just silly and cute. I was mad at the time that Naomi got pregnant again, but now I can’t imagine the save without Ollie. ❤
Obligatory update content: the weekly Kids’ Club gathering.
Unobligatory update content–I looked away for five seconds and looked back to discover that Avery beat up Marcella???
Don’t expect to see an Avery and Marcella selfie up there any time soon, Ollie.
If I were choosing aspirations rather than randomizing them, I’d so make Ollie my animal lover sim. The way he autonomously bonds with the cats all the time is so cute.
Jude and Ollie have the most precious father and son bond, honestly. They’re always dancing together and just generally having cute interactions.
To my total lack of surprise, Rocky assumed that this week’s Toddler gathering was clothing optional.
It was a real cute, well-behaved little gathering.
… mostly. Good thing Natalie is there to autonomously handle the situation–
–by handing her a drink and confidently peacing out?
Natalie: “Don’t worry, I’ve got it all under control.”
Turns out that in an incredible long game way, she did!
Meanwhile, Avery may or may not have magic powers. 
Jude got on a fitness kick this week, and Ollie was intrigued.
If this picture doesn’t sum up life with a Toddler, I don’t know what does.
… Jude, I realize I’m not a parent, but I can’t imagine that squashing him is a great disciplinary method.
One of the rules I created for my BACC was a bit of a convoluted process to unlock college: 1) place a school lot, 2) which then unlocks a sim resident who majored in Education, and also KawaiiStacie’s playable school events, 3) and which unlocks sims being able to go to college (once Brichester as a neighborhood is unlocked). The neighborhood fund finally had enough money to purchase this cute little schoolhouse build, so I placed it in the game! It’s classed as a library, so Ginny invited Brielle to study there, and I let Brielle go so that I could see it in action.
The librarian apparently thinks that this is our indoor wedding lot. Not quite, librarian. Not quite.
It’s really cute, but I think it’ll be a bit too small to play through the school event in, so further down the line I’ll probably replace it with a bigger (but not too big, of course) build. In the meantime, though, it’s cute!
Ginny is cute, too!
Pop quiz: are the girls afraid of 1) the monster under the bed, 2) Avery’s magical powers, or 3) Avery’s general existence?
Jude’s shift at the Genesis Diner started out with a couple of really cute father & son resident outings–
–aaaaaand then it took a turn.
New information I learned about Grim: he’s a close talker.
Let’s hope Ollie is learning from Jude’s example.
The living room is kinda small, but it’s still big enough for the family to autonomously gather.
And big enough for the never-ending dance parties!
I have to say, I kinda respect Roger for yelling at Avery of all people. She’s like second only to Mabel in terms of sims in this save I wouldn’t cross if you paid me.
Roger et. al. actually weren’t on hand for a Kids’ Club meeting–they were there for Ollie’s birthday party! He got Insider as his first trait, and definitely bears as strong a resemblance to Naomi as Avery does to Jude.
And now that he’s a Child, he and Marcella were able to become Best Friends, which completed that stage of the Social aspiration for her!
I was not expecting Flash to be the next family member to age up, but here we are.
And the unexpected cat related events kept coming: Avery autonomously hugged him!
No matter his age stage, Ollie still loves him a good dance session.
I’m really terrible about getting parents to read to their Mental Children, but I’m trying to be better about it. It helps when there’s more than one in the household, so that they can all get that accomplishment done.
Saturday had such a nice, ordinary start–family conversation around the table, a nice morning dance party…
I decided to send them all to the park for the afternoon, since there were three (3) family birthdays scheduled and I thought it would be fun to have the party somewhere different.
So for a while it was a nice, normal, fun little day at the park…
Until Leia??? Flirted with Jude??? Right in front of Naomi??????
And then a few minutes later I found Jude standing next to an urn, hovered over it, and literally had a few seconds where I couldn’t comprehend that I was seeing “Naomi Royal”.
I didn’t get any death popups, no typical death sequence, nothing. She was just suddenly dead. If she had died and I’d had the chance to plead for her, etc, that would have been one thing. (Like with Brock–I hate that he’s dead, but it was fair, so I let it stand.) But since she glitched out, I decided to fix it and bring her back.
Step one, the only thing I could do right then: move her into the household. (I’ve never actually had a ghost live in an active household, so I guess that’s one more Sims 4 experience I can cross off the list.)
I’d actually meant to age Leia up on the last day of the Original Household rotation, but so much else happened that I totally forgot, so I went ahead and aged her up along with Jude.
Yes, Leia, you did that.
And it was Avery’s birthday, too, so she also blew out the candles and aged up! I was DELIGHTED when she randomized the Outgoing trait and the Fabulously Wealthy aspiration (I use the Google Assistant on my phone to choose numbers for aspirations), since those suit how I see her perfectly. And yes, her fashion sense is 100% inspired by Gossip Girl’s Blair Waldorf, headbands and all.
The game put her in this very 50s look, which I enjoy because I can see her getting into vintage fashion when she’s older. But for right now she’s going full Blair Waldorf.
I tried to fix Jude and Naomi’s relationship, since it had taken quite the hit after the whole Leia flirting with Jude thing, but Naomi was having none of it.
Another first for me: using the wishing well to bring someone back to life. There are a zillion potential outcomes with the wishing well, so I was incredibly relieved when it brought her back to life on the first try.
And basically right at the same time, Shadow also aged up to an Elder! I told you, the action never stopped in this house.
And now that Naomi was back, it was time for her to age up, too! I think she’s more than ready to take on Adulthood.
I’ve been changing everyone’s looks and outfits as they age up (yes, I’ll share Leia’s picture soon) so here are Jude and Naomi’s current middle-aged looks! I’m debating changing Jude’s hair, but I’m not sure yet. I think the wrinkles certainly convey that he’s aged, at least for now.
Everyone’s still sad about Naomi dying, and Avery actually autonomously comforted Brielle about it. I think Naomi’s proud of her. Or maybe she’s just pleased to feel so appreciated. Either way.
Jude and Naomi brought in a bunch of money this week, so of course I spend it all on building a second floor on the house so that the kids can have bedrooms upstairs. I’m going to set up each bedroom as the kids become Teens, so Avery’s bedroom was first. I’m going to make a few more changes the next time I play (I’m gonna delete the giant vase, for one thing) but for the most part I’m pleased with it.
And I’ll end this update with a bonus quiz: while I was setting outfits in CAS, I discovered that I’d already put one of Avery’s outfits on Naomi! Who wore it better?
Spotlight BACC 